Liplje is a mountain village located in the municipality of

Zvornik Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants. Zvornik is located on the Drina River, on the eastern slopes of Majevica mountain, at the altitude of ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, neighboring

Snagovo Snagovo ( sr-cyrl, Снагово) is a mountain village in the municipality of Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is divided into Gornje Snagovo (''Upper Snagovo'') and Donje Snagovo (''Lower Snagovo''). Bosnian War Snagovo was among the hardest ...

. Within Liplje there are 14 settlements: Bajrići, Bećirovići, Čamlija, Hadžići, Husići, Jašići, Jošanica, Kadrići, Korin Brijeg, Liplje, Salihovići, Samari, Sultanovići and Velja Glava.

History

World War II

In July 1943, the

Yugoslav Partisan The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

-aligned

1st Proletarian Brigade The 1st Proletarian Brigade, later the 1st Proletarian Division, was the first brigade-size formation raised by the Yugoslav Partisans during World War II. The unit was one of the elite formations of the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. I ...

, with Filip Kljajić serving as their political commissary, liberated occupied

from the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

and the troops of the occupying

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

. During withdrawal Kljajić died of an accidental gunshot on a hill on the outskirts of Zvornik. His body was brought to Liplje and buried. Kljajić's body was taken in the 1960s from that spot by his family and reburied in a family plot elsewhere. A memorial was erected on the spot where his corpse was originally buried. Following the ethnic cleansing of Liplje in 1992 during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

, the memorial suffered and became overgrown with shrubbery.

Bosnian War

Liplje concentration camp

At the start of the Bosnian War, armed Serb peasants from the nearby village of

overran Liplje on 1 May 1992 and, by 25 May, turned it into a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

(''see'':

Liplje camp The Liplje camp () was a concentration camp operated between 25 May 1992 and 2 June 1992 by Army of Republika Srpska in the village Liplje near Zvornik during the Bosnian War. It was set up for Bosniak men, women and children, in an effort to e ...

) with the

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

(Muslim) residents becoming prisoners. Between 420 and 460 people were imprisoned; men, women and children were beaten, raped repeatedly and killed by Serbs. A total of 27 prisoners died. Escapees organized resistance groups in the towns of

Cerska Cerska ( sr-cyrl, Церска) is a small town in the municipality of Vlasenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina located 12 kilometers from the town of Vlasenica itself and 11 km from the Serbian border. According to the 1991 census, Cerska had a tot ...

and Kamenica. On 1 June 1992, about 300 Bosniaks armed with 27 rifles liberated the Liplje concentration camp. It became the only camp with Bosniak prisoners to be liberated in the entirety of the 1992–95 war. None of the Serb rapists from the camp have been brought to justice.

Mass graves

In August 1998, a mass grave believed to be of victims killed in 1995, was discovered and exhumed, revealing at least 191 individuals, most of whom died of gunshot. Several mass graves were found in Liplje, with exhumations still ongoing as of 2012. It was reported by ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

'' on 8 July 2001 that a mass grave of approximately 200 victims of the 1995

Srebrenica Genocide The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by units ...

was discovered in Liplje.

Post-war

Bosniak returnees experience discrimination from the authorities of the Zvornik municipality, which fell into the hands of

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

after the war. The elementary school in Liplje, which taught around 400 children before the war, currently has only 20 students. Liplje is one of the stops during the annual

Marš mira The March of Peace () is an annual peace walk in Bosnia and Herzegovina organized in memory of the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. The march gathers thousands of Bosnians and foreigners each year. The first march was held in 2005, to ma ...

(''March of Peace'').

Flooding

Heavy rainfall in June 2010 set off several landslides and rock slides in Liplje. Due to the blockage of the flow of water, a local creek overflowed and swept away the main access road to the village. The flood also destroyed the crops of the Bosniak returnees. More flooding and landslides were reported following heavy rainfall in March 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liplje, Zvornik Zvornik Populated places in Zvornik